Not long shall yet your maidenhood be worn.
Even now, amid the land where you were born,
Phaeacia’s princes woo you. Up, and bid
My lord your father yoke at break of morn
A mule-team and a cart whereon to lay
Girdles and gowns and broidered blankets gay.”[[12]]
We who are watching behind the scenes know quite well who is this celestial visitor; and that the whispered words which have set Nausicaa’s cheeks tingling are a mere ruse of Athena to bring help to the luckless Odysseus. But Nausicaa has no hint of this; and waking with the morning sun streaming upon her, she smiles in wonder and hope. Then she dresses quickly and goes down to find her parents, musing upon the words of the goddess. The queen is sitting in the great hall, amid her handmaidens, winding the ‘dim sea-purple’; and the king, coming out to join the princes in council, meets Nausicaa on the threshold. Is there anywhere a more charming scene than this?
“Papa dear, will you let me have to-day
A high wheeled waggon yoked, to take away
The goodly clothes and wash them in the stream?